DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Abstract) Major features of the program: This new Pediatric Hematology Research Training Program is designed to equip participants for investigative careers in academic pediatric hematology. The distinctive features of this new Training Program are (i) an active multidisciplinary investigative experience on a specific research project under the direction of a member of the Program Faculty, (ii) rigorous training in a major basic science area combined with experience in two or three different disciplines, (iii) didactic exercises leading to a scholarly, comprehensive understanding of current concepts of the pathophysiology of pediatric blood disorders, and (iv) an investigative focus on hematologic disease in children, especially disorders of red blood cells (thalassemia, sickle cell disease, hereditary and acquired refractory anemia), of iron metabolism (iron deficiency, iron overload), of leukocytes and immune function. The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, an institution encouraging strong interactions between basic and clinical scientists which bridge or transcend traditional departmental boundaries, provides an environment ideally suited to the development of investigators able to apply interdisciplinary approaches to fundamental problems in pediatric hematology. Utilizing the clinical and laboratory facilities of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and of Babies and Children's Hospital, Trainees will have intensive research experience in a subdiscipline of pediatric hematology under the guidance of a full-time member of the Pediatric Hematology Research Program Faculty. Overall, approximately 90 percent of the Trainees' time will be devoted to research experience. Trainees: Applicants will be accepted for research training who 1) have an M.D. or M.D-Ph.D degree and a minimum of three years of post-doctoral training in Pediatrics, 2) have completed all requirements and have been awarded the Ph.D. degree. Initially, two Trainees would be included in the Program in Years 1 and 2, three Trainees in Years 3 and 4, and four Trainees in Year 5. Training Facilities: Research experience will be gained in the laboratories of Program Faculty members under whose close supervision the Trainees will work. Program Faculty selected to participate as Mentors in research training will be only those who are heavily engaged in research and hold peer-reviewed grants from the NIH, NSF, VA, or FDA, as Principal Investigators, or who have research support from other national organizations. (End of Abstract)